AMERICA AND THE WORLD WAR
EARLY YEARS OF THE WAR
The hero of the World War
232. A War of All the People. We have been studying in this history the lives of America's greatest men and women, and the ways they have served their country. But in the last great part of American history, the World War, what counted most was the loyalty of every one of the people to a free government, and their willingness to fight and work unitedly for its safety. The plain, everyday American is our hero in this chapter.
A WAR GARDEN POSTER
In the "Food Will Win the War" campaign posters urged all school children to make gardens
The war was so big that if each citizen had not done his bit, Germany might have conquered. The work of shipping boards and directors of fuel supply was less important than the work done by ordinary people. Much was done to win the war in the homes of each boy and girl in the United States as well as on the battlefields of France. Every member of the family found things he could do without to help buy more Liberty bonds. Boy Scouts sold bonds and thrift stamps. Girls worked to get food-card pledges. Mothers planned the meals carefully to save the wheat, meat, and sugar that had to be sent across to our army. Brothers and fathers had to answer the draft call and go to training camps if necessary. Not only must food and money, gasoline and coal, be saved, but everyone who could not fight overseas was expected to do some useful work.